What a Catch – Fishing at Lake Tisza all year round

Lake Tisza is the favourite hang-out of anglers all year round, offering an amazingly abundant catch. Grab your fishing rod and head to the picturesque lake dotted with beautiful little islands.

Lake Tisza is Hungary's largest artificial lake at 127 km²and wascreated as part of the flood control project of River Tisza between the 1970s and 1990s. As the area used to be the flood plain of the river, cut through by several river and creek beds, the emerging lake has an exceptionally diverse water environment with a great variety of depths (the average depth is 1.3 metres, the deepest spots are 17 metres deep, however) and 43 km² of small islands. Its newly formed local ecology includes a great diversity of birds, plants and animals. There is also an amazing variety of fish as the River Tisza flows through the lake as well and you can find river water and still water fish at the same time. Fishing can be done all year round here - choose the right target and the appropriate fishing technique and you won't go home empty-handed. The lake's shores offer a variety of comfy accommodation, well-equipped fishing stores, busy landing-stages and erudite anglers' guides.

The best way to go fishing on Lake Tisza is on a small boat - there are 15 landing stations in operation with hundreds of boats to rent all year around. If you'd like to get a picture of what you're up against on your fishing trip beforehand, head to the Lake Tisza Ecocentre and check out all the species of fish that can be found in the lake, in an aquarium system of 1 million litres of water – Europe's largest fresh-water aquarium (www.tiszataviokocentrum.hu)!

Of course you can do your fishing at the shore as well – the water is particularly deep at some parts of the shores while others are shallow with a solid ground, preferred by carp and bream. The best spots include the shores of Poroszló and Sarud as well as the dam between Kisköre and Abádszalók. If you choose to take the car don't forget to get permission and keep in mind the parking rules and trash-regulations – you are in a nature reserve, after all.

Different seasons bring different kinds of fish to your bait. The river is the favourite spot for those on the hunt for big predator fish - catch huge catfish from spring to autumn or pike perch, even in the winter. And how to get those catfish to come to you? There's a special method called kuttyogatás that works from May to September. As the technique requires great skill and elaborate local knowledge, ask a fishing guide for help. In the summer months go for pike perch – the best time of the day to catch them is in the morning twilight. When the clearness of the water is disturbed by small tidal waves, try your luck at the lake-like reservoirs along the river. The shallower parts are great to catch bream, especially from spring to autumn.

A particularly exciting technique, search-fishing, is best done in April. Paddle your boat into the shallow and warm waters of the reservoirs quietly to catch fish gathering for spawning – the moving water surface will reveal the fish's location.

Autumn is the time to catch some pike. Lake Tisza is a perfect habitat for these large predators. The best time to catch them is at the end of autumn, when the pike swim from the colder shallow waters into the deeper backwaters.

The end of autumn brings another great opportunity: to avoid damage created by frost, the water level of the lake is decreased by about two metres in the months of October-November – this might be your chance for a really good catch.

Even winter time is fishing time at Lake Tisza – and not just any kind: in fact, winter brings about a particularly high density of pike in the reservoirs. Just cut a whole into the ice and see for yourself. But remember: ice-fishing can be dangerous, so always take a partner with you.

Before you throw the bait, make sure to buy an angling ticket at one of the numerous fishing shops or gas stations.